For some NBA players, being benched can be demoralizing and hurt their confidence. Others use it as motivation to prove to their coach that it should be just a temporary move. It seems to be the latter for Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George. The second-year player had an historic evening for the Jazz on Saturday while coming off the bench.
Keyonte George Has Historic Outing Off Bench Saturday
Keyonte George’s Wonderful Performance Off Bench Against Rockets
The Jazz entered Saturday’s contest 21.5 games behind their opponent, the Houston Rockets, in the standings. Outscoring Houston by 12 in the final stanza, Utah came out on top by the score of 124-115, The win improved their record to a still-lowly 14-42, second-worst in the Western Conference.
It was an outstanding performance by the 21-year-old George in the victory. Playing 29 minutes on Saturday, the 6-foot-4 point guard finished the outing with 30 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. He shot an impressive 10-17 from the field and 5-8 from beyond the arc. George scored eight points and dished out three assists in the decisive fourth quarter.
Per StatMamba, George became the youngest player in NBA history to have a game of at least 30 points, five assists, and five three-pointers made while coming off the bench. He won’t turn 22 years old until November 8.
Keyonte George becomes the youngest player in NBA history to come off bench & record:
30+ PTS
5+ AST
5+ 3PM pic.twitter.com/oRxs2BdeYB— Polymarket Hoops (@StatMamba) February 23, 2025
While this was George’s best performance since being benched, he’s had other solid games as well as a reserve.
Has Improved His Play As A Reserve
Selected by Utah with the 16th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, George was a starter for each of his first 32 appearances. That changed on January 25 when he came off the bench for the first time, and he has now done so in 14 straight games.
When in the starting lineup, George has played an average of 31.5 minutes per contest. He has posted averages of 16.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 3.0 turnovers. While somewhat productive, there were times George was a turnstile at the defensive end, and he often scored inefficiently. While a starter, he shot just 39.4% from the field and 34.8% from beyond the arc.
Again, George has now been used in a reserve role for 14 games. The 29th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Isaiah Collier, has taken George’s spot with the starters. George’s playing time has essentially been the same, as he has averaging just 0.1 less minutes than he did as a starter (31.4). His averages off the bench include 17.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.4 assists. The turnovers have gone down to 2.4 per contest. While his three-point shooting is slightly done (33.4%), he has shot a much more respectable 43.7% from the field.
So that is a 4.3% increase in field goal shooting since George has gone to the bench. A 1.93 assist-to-turnover ratio as a starter has improved greatly to 2.62 as a reserve. His offensive rating is at 119 off the bench compared to just 106 when playing as a starter.
Will George continue his improved play as a reserve? His next chance to comes on Monday when the Jazz go on the road to take on the Portland Trail Blazers.
Photo credit: © Rob Gray-Imagn Images
